e360 digest

25 Aug 2011: On-Road Charging Could Allow
‘Unlimited’ EV Driving, Researchers Say

Japanese researchers are developing a new system that they say could ultimately power electric vehicles (EVs) for travel across “unlimited” distances without the hindrance of heavy batteries. While based on railway infrastructure in which individual cars are powered through overhead wires, the new EV technology would convert energy from overhead power lines into radio frequencies and transmit these frequencies to a metal track embedded under the surface of the road. The prototype electric vehicle, being developed by Toyota Central R&D Labs and Toyohashi University of Technology, is able to convert this radio frequency to functional voltage through a circular steel belt installed inside the tires. The researchers have already demonstrated the feasibility of their design through low-power laboratory experiments and argue that achieving an energy transfer of tens of kilowatts would make possible unrestricted expressway driving for EVs.

Yale Environment 360 is
a publication of the
Yale School of Forestry
& Environmental Studies.

SEARCH e360

CONNECT

Twitter: YaleE360
e360 on Facebook
Donate to e360
View mobile site
Bookmark
Share e360
Subscribe to our newsletter
Subscribe to our feed:

ABOUT

About e360
Contact
Submission Guidelines
Reprints

E360 en Español

Yale Environment 360 articles are now available in Spanish and Portuguese on Universia, the online educational network.
Visit the site.

DEPARTMENTS

Opinion
Reports
Analysis
Interviews
Forums
e360 Digest
Podcasts
Video Reports

TOPICS

Biodiversity
Business & Innovation
Climate
Energy
Forests
Oceans
Policy & Politics
Pollution & Health
Science & Technology
Sustainability
Urbanization
Water

REGIONS

Antarctica and the Arctic
Africa
Asia
Australia
Central & South America
Europe
Middle East
North America

e360 PHOTO GALLERY

Photographer Peter Essick documents the swift changes wrought by global warming in Antarctica, Greenland, and other far-flung places.
View the gallery.

e360 MOBILE

The latest
from Yale
Environment 360 is now available for mobile devices at e360.yale.edu/mobile.

e360 VIDEO

The Warriors of Qiugang, a Yale Environment 360 video that chronicles the story of a Chinese village’s fight against a polluting chemical plant, was nominated for a 2011 Academy Award for Best Documentary (Short Subject). Watch the video.



Top Image: aerial view of Iceland. © Google & TerraMetrics.

e360 VIDEO

In a Yale Environment 360 video, photographer Pete McBride documents how increasing water demands have transformed the Colorado River, the lifeblood of the arid Southwest. Watch the video.

OF INTEREST